using NetBook Pro or other WinCE 4.2 HPC for amateur Ham Radio

Has anyone done it?
Please share your experiences?
I would like to help someone communicate on Ham radio using the HPC keyboard rather than with morse code,
and with other possibilities as well.
What are the recommended affordable software, hardware, and newbie tutorials?


Edited by Jacobi 2011-03-06 4:11 AM

Been there, done that, was never really happy with outcome.

There are numerous CE applications, some which run on hpcs, some which don't. Most are written for pocketpc screen format only. With some I have had to use Nyditot to fit on HPC screen. I never tried Redgear as it wasn't around back when I was using CE with my rig.

I was very happy to use my Mobilepro as a logger (especially during contests) or for mapping (APRS/CE). I tried Packet for a while, and it was okay too, but it gobbled up the resources quickly.

PocketMorse was a program that I had some early success with. It allowed me to run a cable in parallel from my radio's headphones to the microphone input jack on my Mobilepro. It translated the audio pulses into CW. The problem with it was that it worked really well for automated signals that had a steady speed. But with variations of a human keyer, it would get out of sync and errors or gibberish would show up on the screen. But it isn't a bad way to go for training. Another program, PPCMorse worked okay as it was, but it was a little more limited.

You figure any CE device can generate morse code easy enough. All you have to do convert the text characters to the proper code and play it through the speaker. p7 Morseplayer is one of many. I also got Picketdigi to work (copy) at 15wpm...once. I understand there is a pocketpc version of CwGet, but I never tried it. Pocket CW is another program that will generate code...but not read it.

Anyways, there are a ton of ham radio programs written for DOS, so you might want to consider using pocketdos and one of those as an alternative as well.

All in all...I just found it easier to learn to copy and pound it out at 15-20 wpm. Anything faster than that and I just request QRS 18.